The Danger of Hero Worship

The Fall of the House of Gates?

Fully reckoning with Bill Gates means not just focusing on how he treats women—vital as that is—but also confronting our own deep-seated worship of wealth and hardwired belief in hero narratives.

I remember the Bill Gates that emerged from the antitrust trial of Microsoft in the 1990s, and books that came out subsequently from people who’d been at or around Microsoft in the 1980s and 1990s. In one way or another, he has been working to remove that image of himself from the public consciousness ever since.

Unfortunately, as the article above points out, we still have a tendency to lionise smart, successful people and overlook their other deeds. Even when those deeds become the thing they’re best known for.